Aryan's Story
by InvaderQix
Summary: (Formerly known as Anata's Story. Cover made on RinMaruGames) Thought to be natural, but just lucky. Dying to be pretty, but more so to be accepted. No one's as special as they could be. We all need a little push.
1. Aryan Kingston

_When I was a littlie, everyone thought I was a natural. Topher and Emmy were lucky parents, I would have been the first natural born in a long time. As I grew older, everyone stopped fawning over me. Turns out I wasn't a natural after all. I was just a lucky as a littlie. As I grew, it was as if my face didn't get past the cuteness stage of my littlie days and my body barely got past the awkwardness of my first few years of the ugly days. My hair was flat and black, my eyes a dull brown, my nose wide and no longer the 'button' nose people fawned over me for, and my skin often went from creamy to crusty lobster depending on whether I decided to greet the sun or not. Worst of all, I was short. I didn't grow an inch past my twelveth birthday, a measly five feet tall._

_I had very few friends as an ugly. My best friend was named Kari, and we all called her Frizzle because she had bright red-orange frizzy hair like this science teacher from an old Rusty children's book series. Kari and I were so close, but our friendship became strained as we got older. She was a year older than me, and since she'd turn pretty before me, I wasn't sure if she'd still be loyal after the surgery. She was mad that I doubted her, and I was mad that she couldn't seem to understand my concern._

_When the dreaded day finally came, she gave me her old hoverboard as a gift, and as an apology. She promised to ping me as soon as she left the hospital._

_I never got that ping._

_A week went by. A month. Two months. Six. Ten. Finally, I decided I was done waiting, so I pinged her. After another week, she pinged me back to meet her under the bridge. I was excited to see her, even though I was still sore about her ignoring me. I smiled, then my face went blank. She was gorgeous, with her hair a deep mahogany red, in large curls instead of the frizz I'd known for years, her eyes big and bright green, her lips plump and shiny with gloss, her nose small and cute. She was a whole new person. She wasn't Frizzle anymore._

_"Kari, y-you look-" I started to say, but the dark glare on her face shut me up. She wasn't happy._

_"Go back to your dorm. Don't ping me anymore. Don't sneak over here anymore, just leave me alone. You don't belong here."_

_With that, she turned away from me, and I collapsed to the ground, sinking into the shadows cast by the bridge. Quiet sobs escaped my chest as big fat tears began to well up in my eyes. I don't think I'd ever experienced a heartbreak quite like that. My best friend __**hated**__ me, and all because I was ugly._

_I coughed, then stood up and flew back to my dorm room, wiping my eyes and letting out the occasional sob. Now I wouldn't have any friends moving into New Pretty Town._

_At least, that's what I'd thought until I met Maya._

_I had met her after I had a bad wipeout on my hoverboard, literally crashing into her while trying to make a less than graceful landing._

_"Oh jeez, I'm sorry. That was totally bogus of me. You okay?" The girl looked up at me, her brown eyes mostly hidden behind ratty blonde hair._

_"I'm fine. But what's a littlie doing at the ugly dorms? Did you get lost from your parents?"_

_I was taken aback, and an angry blush formed on my cheeks. "I'm fifteen years old, for your information! My birthday is in two months!" I glowered at her. I hated when people mistook me for a littlie._

_"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. Well, my name's Maya. What's yours?"_

_"Aryan. Aryan Kingston."_

_We talked for hours after that, about how her friends were all pretty now and she still had another four months to go. I felt sorry for her. Since that day we had our crash course meeting, I knew that once I became pretty, she'd be alone and friendless again._

_"I'm gonna make you a promise, Maya." I said to her, two weeks before my birthday._

_"Hmm, what kind of promise?"_

_"Since after my birthday, you'll still have to wait two months till you become pretty, I promise I won't forget you. I promise I'll answer all of your pings. I promise that we'll always be friends. Best friends forever."_

_She smiled, and hugged me tightly. I returned the hug, and a tear fell from my eye._

_"I made you something, to remember me by." she handed me a blue and orange yarn band._

_"What is it?" I turned it over, and she'd somehow spelled my name with the yarn. It was really cute, and I'd never gotten a present from a friend before, not even Kari._

_"It's called a friendship bracelet. Rusties used to make them for their friends, so I asked around and someone got one of their pretty friends to have their hole in the wall make something called yarn. Then I was able to make the bracelet."_

_I smiled widely and she showed me how to tie it to my wrist. "Thank you, Maya." I said, wiping my eyes._

_That night, I snuck out to the library, and I found a Rusty history book with the friendship bracelets in it, then I got to work. By the time my birthday had snuck up on me, I'd finally been able to complete an ugly, but heartfelt bracelet for Maya._

_She and my father had come to the hospital to see me off. My mother would see me in the operating room, since she was a surgeon. She was going to make me pretty!_

_I slowly exhaled, then made my way to pretty chemical dreams._


	2. Pretty Lies

When I woke up, my eyes hurt. It was like I'd never used them before. I tried to open them, and bright lights shone through my eyelids. It was totally bogus. I sat up and rubbed them, trying to open them again. I looked down at my hands. My hands were soft. I could see all the lines in them, soft tracing patterns. I saw honey blonde strands falling over my shoulder, and under the bright light, I could see the faintest of ruby red in the blonde. I turned my hands over, and my nails were baby pink, rounded at the edges.

The door on my left opened, and a pretty nurse walked in, followed by my parents.

"Happy birthday, darling. I hope you like it." my mother, Emmy started up the wallscreen, and she faced my towards it.

As a littlie, I always looked like a mix of my parents, but now Emmy's features were more prominent. My eyes were the same shape as hers, and they were light blue like hers. Wait...my right eye. It shone more of a sea green than the blue of my left eye. My nose resembled the cute little button it was when I was a littlie, my lips full and glossy. My hair was honey blonde with ruby undertones, and it was in loose curls. I smiled softly, and took Emmy's hand.

I really was my mother's daughter.

"I like it a lot, but why is my right eye a different color?"

"It's something called heterochromia. Some people are born with it, but not very many pretties request it, but I thought it would be a nice surprise. Besides, it's not too noticeable, infact I've seen a few Rusty photos of people with this eye color scheme."

"It's kind of random, but it's a good kind of random. I like it."

The nurse squatted down and handed me my duffel bag. "There's a warden car waiting outside for you. You're going to be living in Garbo Mansion."

"Thank you." I said, and quickly hugged my parents. They all walked out and I changed into my too-small dorm uniform. I took one last look in the mirror. Emmy had done a good job in making her features shine brighter than Topher's. I wonder how he felt about that.

I shuffled through my bag, and something blue and orange fell out of it. I looked at it carefully, and saw that my name was spelled out on it. Someone had made this for me, and I tried to remember her face.

Mary? Millie? Mai?

I sighed, and put it back into my bag, then walked out of my room to the front of the hospital. All the nurses smiled at me, and I saw a flash of red.

"Aryan! You're finally here!"

I looked at the Pretty in front of me. She had long curly red hair, green eyes and a huge smile on her face.

"Remember me? I'm Kari! You used to call me Frizzle?"

I was beginning to remember who she was. How we were best friends. Then the surgery tore us apart.

"I remember you. I also remember that night under the bridge when you told me how I didn't belong in New Pretty Town and how you didn't want me to ping you again."

Her face fell, and her eyes watered. "You didn't think I meant that, did you? I was drunk and upset, I didn't mean to hurt you! I'm sorry."

She wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug and disgust crawled all over my skin. Her apology was nothing but a pretty lie. But I could tell pretty lies too.

"I forgive you. I promise."

She smiled again, then took my hand and lead me to the only warden car left at the hospital.

"Aryan Kingston?" the warden asked.

"Yes." I said, sinking back in the hovercar's seat. Kari was still holding my hand, and I almost wanted to chop it off.

The ride to Garbo wasn't too bad. Kari and the warden chattered away, but I stayed silent. Soon, we reached the mansion, and Kari helped me out.

"Your room is three doors down from mine! Oh, it'll be just like ugly days, except we're pretty and not random anymore!"

"Bubbly." I said, looking at a door with the name _Flow_ written across it. The door slid open and we stepped in. I walked over to the hole in the wall, mentally planning out an outfit as I removed my uniform.

"_Welcome home Aryan-la. My name is Flow Please let me know how I can help you get settled in." _the room said.

"Um.. can I have a breakfast tray? I'm starving." I said. Through all the excitement, I'd completely forgot that I'd had nothing to eat.

"_What would you like to eat Aryan-la?" _the room said.

"Bring some lobster omelets, chocolate muffins and coffee." I told the room. All that food sounded so bubbly.

_"Do you want me to make you something to wear while you wait?" _the room asked.

I looked at the hole again. "A pink waist length dress, strapless with a wide skirt and detached sleeves."

I was surrounded by nanos and the exact dress I'd described formed onto my body. "I want some sparkly ballet flats in the same color."

I twirled around, marveling in the dress's beauty. A perfect dress for a perfect pretty, and it matched my nails. I walked over to my bed and sat down again. I felt something under my hand. It was the orange and blue bracelet that was in my hospital bag.

'_Who gave this to me? Why can't I remember?' _I thought.

"Here's your breakfast tray, Aryan!" Kari called out. I beckoned the tray towards me and dug in. After I'd wolfed down the omelette, I tipped my head back and drank the coffee in a few gulps.

"Well, is there anything else you need before I go?" Kari asked. I shook my head. "I'm alright. I'll ping you later!"

Kari waved at me, then walked out of the room. I sat up and looked at the tray. There was nothing left but a glass of water and two small packets. I knew the packets were calorie purgers, and I warily popped them out of the package and into my mouth. Picking up the glass, I swallowed them. The water was nice and cool. I remembered drinking water a lot as an ugly.

Suddenly, an image popped into my head. Me as an ugly, in front of a water fountain, and girl with messy blonde hair, lots of pimples and a snaggle-toothed smile.

Her name... what was her name?

As quickly as it came, the image was gone.

I sighed, holding the bracelet in my hands. Somehow, I had to remember her.


	3. Recycle

I woke up to really bubbly fireworks, as always. So far, these first two months in New Pretty Town weren't so bad. Kari was clingy, but I dealt with it. I think that letting her hang around me would slowly work my up to Crim status. She slightly twisted the stories of Ugly days around to make us look good, but our major trick I couldn't let her tell. I had to do it myself.

It was my last happy memory of our former friendship.

A ping went off, and I twisted my interface ring.

"Hello?"

_"Hi Aryan-la! You ready for the bash tonight?" _Kari's voice filtered through to my room.

I sighed. "Not quite. Just woke up." I didn't tell her that I went to a party with some randoms that called themselves the Rejects. Apparently, some of them knew me from our major trick as uglies. I ended up staying out the whole night, and I'd brought some champagne with me, which made me all tipsy.

_"Jeez, Aryan-la! What were you doing all night?"_

"Ummm... stuff?" I rolled my eyes.

_"Whatever. Just wash up and get dressed and I'll be there super quick."_

"Okay." I shut the ping off and walked into the bathroom. Dropping my clothes onto the floor, I stepped into the shower and barked at the room to turn on the cold water. As the droplets pounded against my skin, the cold shocked me into old Ugly memories.

_"Ryan...Ryan...Aryan..."_

_"Mai...Mai...Maya..."_

_"Friends..."_

_"Forever..."_

_"Forgotten...lonely..."_

_"Won't forget...promise..."_

I grabbed the soap patch and rubbed it all over me. I remembered her name now.

"Maya. I remember you. I promise I'll ping you soon." I whispered.

Once I felt clean, I walked into my room, towards my closet. The midnight blue A-line dress waited for me, with matching pumps and gloves. I smiled.

"Aryan! Hope you're not all nakies!" Kari's singsong voice rang out.

"Umm...I'm totally...nakies. So...can you not?" I tried to speak her language, but it was so awkward.

"Sorry! Hurry up and get un-nakiefied so we can get going!" She plopped onto my bed and I walked all the way to the other side of the room, hiding behind a plant. I couldn't believe how comfortable pretties were being naked around each other. It was weird.

I had just slipped on my left glove when I heard, "Hey, what's this? A bracelet?"

No!

I ran back to the bed to see Kari twirling the bracelet around in her hand. Maya's bracelet.

"Don't touch that. Please...it was given to me by someone special to me. She helped me a lot as an ugly, after you left."

A dark look took over Kari's face for a few seconds, then she put the bracelet back down. "When's her birthday?"

"In three days." I said, breathing heavily.

She looked at me, then at the closet, then at the bracelet again. "What's it made out of?"

"It's-what, why does it matter?" I inched closer to the bed, hoping I could grab it before she turned to look at it again.

"I'm just curious is all. I've never seen anything like it before."

"It's...it's made of yarn. It's probably not recycleable. lt was a parting gift. Well...more of an 'I care about you so don't forget me' gift. It's really special to me...to us."

"Hmm. If it's so special, why don't you wear it?" she picked it up again.

"I have worn it!" I hadn't worn it at all. I was more concerned about trying to remember Maya so I would have a reason to wear it.

"You're lying. I've never seen you wear it. Admit it, you totally forgot about the girl that made it for you."

"No, I haven't! I've been trying to remember her since I woke up!" I slapped my hand over my mouth. I'd said too much.

Kari's lips twisted into a smile. "That's mean, Anata. I mean, at least I acknowledged you after my surgery. I bet you wouldn't have remembered her until the day she showed up at a bash if she hadn't given this to you."

I tried to hold in my anger. "That's not true! I cared about Maya a lot. I felt so bad for not being able to remember her name. It took so long...please. Just give it back."

Kari's eyes met mine. Emeralds against gems of the sea.

"You don't deserve this, or that Maya girl's friendship." She tossed the bracelet into the recycler.

I swear my heart broke in half.

This wasn't happening. This had to be a nightmare.

The recycler pinged that it had done it's job. I didn't hear Kari's footsteps as she walked out of the door.

I twisted my interface ring. "Ping Maya." I said in a shaky voice.

_"Maya is not available. What would you like the message to say?" _The room said.

"Maya...hurry up and turn sixteen. I'm waiting for you." After a long pause, the room finally said the message had been sent.

My hands shook. I twisted the ring again.

"Ping Rivend."

After a few seconds I heard his voice. _"Hi Aryan. Thought you weren't interested."_

"I changed my mind."

_"Alright. Valentino transmission tower at midnight. Don't be late. Oh, and uh...leave the booze. We need you clear." _

"Okay." my voice broke off into silence.

_"Are you okay, Aryan? You sound like you're about to pass out."_

"Honestly? I'm not. But don't worry about that now. Promise?"

_"Fine. I'll see you in two hours."_

I closed the ping and laid on my back on the bed. I slowly slid a pillow over my face, and I spent the next hour crying.

When I woke up, it was 11:30 PM. Time to go. I pulled my hair back into a tight bun, then slid on the tight black leggings and shirt they'd given me the night before.

I took a look in the mirror. I looked pretty.

I felt ugly.


End file.
